Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, both major players in the aerospace sector, traded as much as 1.2% higher Tuesday morning. L3Harris Technologies surged as much as 1.4%, and Raytheon jumped about 0.9%.

Aerospace and defense companies typically surge higher in the wake of heightened geopolitical tensions or new threats of war. The firms supply key parts, vehicles, and weapons to the US military, and wartime often drives increased orders for their products.

The missile attacks were made in response to the US's assassination of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on Friday. The attack came "at the direction of" President Trump and was meant to deter "future Iranian attack plans," according to the Defense Department. Several Democrats have since called on the president to reveal intelligence justifying the airstrike.

The US drone strike led global stocks to tank and pushed gold and oil prices higher. Some analysts deemed the event a good opportunity to pile into safe-haven assets, while others advised clients to stay in stocks and potentially buy more while prices are lower.

"Iran does usually retaliate so the current situation brings rising uncertainty. But our view about this being a bull market has not changed," David Donabedian, CIBC Private Wealth Management's chief investment officer, wrote Friday. "Iran is something that must be watched, but investors should not overreact."

The S&P 500 Aerospace & Defense Industry Index closed at 17,529.38 on Tuesday, up roughly 2.4% from Thursday's close and before reports of Soleimani's assassination.

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